


we could be heroes ;

by remylebabe



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Asexual Newt, Asexual Relationship, Canon Disabled Character, Falling In Love, Flashbacks, Love Confessions, M/M, Neurodivergent Newton Geiszler, Newt is a Dork, and the present!, hermann is also a dork, how do you tag i still don't know, set immediately after the iconic side-hug scene
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 06:58:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12103245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remylebabe/pseuds/remylebabe
Summary: one smile, and newt's world is painted with color.(alternate description: explore newt & hermann's world before, during, and after the most iconic awkward side hug in pacrim from both their povs)





	we could be heroes ;

They had saved the world.

  


More importantly, Hermann had literally just sidled up to him, a tiny nudge motioning that he obviously wanted _something._ But oh, when Newt saw Hermann’s face, he was dumbfounded. He was _smiling._ Doctor Hermann Gottlieb, resident grump and the king of sourpuss faces, was giving him a smile. It was so tiny Newt could barely believe it, but it was there.  


A split second passed, and Newt’s brain decided to just take over before he could embarrass himself. A grin crossed his face, and he threw an arm around Hermann’s shoulder, pulling him in for a hug. At first, it was definitely just a normal “bro-hug.” Just thumped his shoulder a little, gave him a nice platonic celebratory show of emotion. But then, Newt found himself unable to keep himself from grinning again, and he pulled Hermann into him, feeling the other man’s shoulder clunk into his chest.  


Damn, Hermann was bony. Newt would have to fix that.

  


This was the first thought to cross his mind, and he’s sure even letting that show of affection slip into his thoughts would have sent his heart even more a-flutter, if it weren’t for what thought followed immediately. It was a thought that nearly caused him to fall apart – what if he’d pulled Hermann too close? What if Hermann could feel how hard his heart was beating? Newt was pretty sure it was about to thump out of his chest.  


Okay, sure, he was a biologist. Sure, he knew that wasn’t something that could technically be possible – his heart actually thumping out of his chest, to be exact. Was that stopping his brain from going into absolute overdrive? Absolutely not. Newt always had dealt with his brain being in overdrive, had always tried to give taking his medications at least half an effort, but this was...it wasn’t the same.  


Newt had always sort of reluctantly admitted to himself that he had a (giant) crush on his fellow scientist. It had bloomed somewhere along the time in which he’d started their correspondence through letters, and then faded once he met Hermann and realized how absolutely awful he could be.  


Or, rather, he thought it had faded. He was fully convinced he couldn’t stand Hermann and wouldn’t want to write him a letter ever again, much less actually see the man in person. For a while, it had actually worked! Newt had casually dated a few people in the time between, and Hermann never crossed his mind. For the most part, anyway.  


But then he’d gotten his current job. He’d walked into the K-Science Lab on that first day, and when he saw boxes meticulously labeled and stacked on one side of the room, he knew. Newt had set down his first box (with its scrawled drawing of a Kaiju on the side), idly looking through its contents and hoping he might just never see his lab partner. 

And then, it happened.

  


“You detestable man.” Hermann’s accented voice rang out clear as day, and Newt reluctantly let his eyes flicker up. Yeah, there he was. God dammit.  


“Nice to see you too, dude.” A cheeky response was all Newt could manage, his brain muddled with the stimuli.  


“I demand a new laboratory.” Hermann half-snapped this at the woman who had lead Newt (and earlier that day, Hermann) into the lab.  


This woman was Mako Mori, and she wasn’t going to take his shit. “I’m sorry, Doctor Gottlieb. These are your accommodations – I would suggest discussing anything otherwise with Marshal Pentecost.” And with that, she was gone, and the two were left to face each other for the first time in years.  


A bickering match Newt couldn’t quite recall anymore had ensued, and Newt had been left with the strangest feeling after it happened. He felt thrilled, he felt challenged – he felt good. Arguing with Hermann felt kind of natural.  


That was the moment Newt realized he was still ridiculously enamored by -- quite possibly in love with -- Hermann Gottlieb.

**Author's Note:**

> so i know this chapter is SUPER SHORT but the ideal set up for this story is going to basically be like this flashback in newt's pov, then in hermann's pov, and then the moments immediately following the iconic side-hug from both their povs and then if there's enough interest in this after that i might actually continue this pure fluff


End file.
